Sunday, May 24, 2009

defensive driving

DON’T SPEED
According to the Insurance Institute for
Highway Safety (IIHS), speeding is a
factor in about one-third of all fatal
crashes, which kill more than 1,000
Americans every month. In 2006, more
than 13,500 people died in fatal
crashes.

The faster you drive, the more likely
you are to die if you’re involved in a
crash. “Your vehicle’s safety features
and devices, such as air bags and safety
belts, are designed to protect you in the
event of a collision at speeds under 50
mph,” Solomon says. “But at higher
speeds, the force of the collision is
more dangerous to your body.”
Between 50 and 60 mph, your risk of
death from a collision is double what it
is at less than 50 mph. At 70 mph, the
risk of death doubles again. At 80
mph, it doubles again, and at 90 mph,
it doubles yet again.

OBEY THE THREE-SECOND RULE
Always leave plenty of room between
you and the vehicle in front of you. The
NSC recommends that you follow the
three-second rule, which provides a
cushion of space between your car and
the one in front of you. When that
vehicle’s rear bumper passes a stationary
object, such as a road sign, tree or
telephone pole, begin counting “onethousand-
and-one, one-thousand-andtwo,
one-thousand-and-three.” You
should be able to finish counting before
your front bumper crosses that same
point. “Add another second for each
deteriorating road condition, like snow,
rain, ice or fog,” Solomon says.

BEWARE OF TAILGATERS
When someone tailgates you, they’re
putting you at risk. The worst thing you
can do is contribute to the situation.
“Tailgating is aggressive driving,”
Solomon says. Don’t tap the brakes or
flash your lights. Doing so might make
the tailgater angry, and he or she might
pass you and cut you off, or worse.
Instead, let the car pass you, increase
your following distance and steer clear.
The tailgater is likely to tailgate the
vehicle in front of you. If that driver
reacts by braking quickly, you’ll need
extra stopping distance.

DRIVE IN THE PROPER LANE
When driving on the freeway, the left
lane is for passing. If you’re in the left
lane traveling the speed limit and cars
behind you want to pass, move to the
right and let them. If you don’t, they’ll
pass you on the right and possibly cut
back in front of you, increasing the
chances of an accident.

“Remember, on the freeway it’s
about survival, it’s not a contest; let
them go,” Solomon advises. “Your job
is not to be the police or to teach others
how to drive.”

Also try to avoid stopping on the left
shoulder in emergency situations.
“You’re only inches away from the left
lane and the fastest-moving cars on the
road,” Solomon warns. Instead, try to
move to the right, pulling off to the
right shoulder as far away from traffic
as possible.

DON’T GET DISTRACTED
A distraction is anything that diverts
your attention from the road, which
can include eating, reaching for something,
smoking, adjusting an iPod or
putting in a CD. According to the AAA
Foundation for Traffic Safety, inatten-
tive driving is a factor in more than 1
million crashes in North America
every year, and drivers are doing something
potentially distracting more than
15 percent of the time.

Cell phone use is one of the biggest
driving distractions. If you need to
make or take a call or text a message,
pull off the road. Better yet, turn off
your cell phone while you drive so you
won’t be tempted to answer calls.
“Using a cell phone while driving is
the equivalent, in terms of mental
impairment, of a blood-alcohol level
of .08,” Solomon says. “And if you’re
texting while driving, you’re as mentally
impaired as if you were on
cocaine.”

- GEICO DIRECT, Spring 2009

how did that clutter accumulate?

Ruth Wong mentions four common reasons why clutter accumulates (Julie Morgenstern lists 10 psychological obstacles in the second chapter of her book).

Difficulty Deciding
Perfectionism
Not being wasteful
Creativity

I think my main problem is that I don't like to waste or let things go to waste. Which is a good thing. But taking it to an extreme, I wind up wasting time and space.

Ruth Wong writes, "Savers can be very conscientious, well-meaning people. Seeing that things are still useful, we hold on to them, to the detriment of our space. If the items are so useful, why aren't we using them? Is it time to pass them on so they can be useful to someone else?"

I think the closest of the 10 obstacles would be "sentimental attachment". If you have stuff piled all over the exterior surfaces of your home or office, see if what's filling your drawers and closets may stem for an earlier, no longer active part of your life -- papers from college, a former career, clothing in different sizes from different stages of your life.

Remember your identity comes from inside, not outside. Objects can remind us who we are, or who we want to be, but the real truth is inside us and doesn't go away.

* * *

More reasons clutter accumulates: unbridled buying, emotional attachment, inherited items, forgetting your goal, no time to un-clutter.

Jack Kirby documentary

I saw the X-Men Trilogy at WalMart for $10 and I couldn't resist, though I resisted when I had seen it for like $12 a month earlier. Actually, I might have taken the $12 set but I had to go back and research what was in the pack. And I never saw it for $12 again, though I was like $14 at Costco.

Anyway, I started going through the DVDs. X-Men was a little odd. They have this special feature where you can play the deleted scenes in the context of the movie. But when you play the movie this way, for some reason the subtitles don't work. I looked and couldn't find any reference to this on the internet.

Then I made my way to X2 (watched about 40 minutes and it was pretty good). Then to X3: The Last Stand. I was going to the special features and saw the Fantastic Four Trailer. That inspired me to finally open up the Fantastic Four: Extended Edition that I had bought months ago from Best Buy.

They had a feature on the Silver Surfer as presented in the comics, which looked interesting. But as I watched, I remembered there was supposed to be a feature on Jack Kirby (which was one of the reasons I bought this edition), titled Jack Kirby: Storyteller.

It was on the second disk. And I loved it. It features the reminiscences and comments from many of the current artists, like Neal Adams. Kirby assistants Mark Evanier and Steve Sherman. I especially liked the remembrances of Len Wein and Marv Wolfman who became big names who went over to the Kirby household when they were aspiring artists.

This brings back a lot of memories because I was a big Kirby fan when I was growing up and collected a lot of his comics. I regret not getting Fantastic Four 1 because I was around when it came out. I did get some of the early Avengers and X-Men, but missed out on buying the number 1 issues. (Back then, I was subscribing to Justice League. Maybe World's Finest too. I think I started buying Fantastic Four around when the Silver Surfer debuted or maybe an issue or two before when the Inhumans came out?

Anyway, I enjoyed this feature far more than I enjoyed the actual movie (or in fact any of the Marvel movies). Highly recommended for fellow Kirby fans.

There's another documentary called Heroes are Born: The Making of Fantastic 4, which also seems to be getting good press. So probably any Fantastic Four fan or Marvel fan might enjoy this. So on the strength of these features, I'd definitely recommend this DVD even if you already own the first DVD (which I did). Especially if you can find it on sale (which I did too).

More googling. I see another review. Based on this, perhaps it could be called The World's Greatest Comic Magazine documentary.

* * *

Some random links (more added as they come)

Jack Kirby - the real comic book hero

The Fantastic Four at The Big Comic Book Database

Jack Kirby on Wikipedia

Jack Kirby covers

Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure

I remember seeing a DVD (around when ROSS came out) I think at Best Buy which contained that unfinished comic plus some extras, but can't find any reference to it on the net.

[5/28/09] Jim Cramer mentioned Kirby's Fourth World twice in a row on his show.

[9/26/14]  Saw the story of Marvel settling with the family of Jack Kirby and came to this entry.  I see there are more mentions of Fantastic Four: The Lost Adventure on google, but no mention of a DVD.  Maybe there was none.  Here's one of the reviews of the Lost Adventures which was a graphic novel including The Lost Adventure issue.

Here's an interesting site commenting on the history of the Fantastic Four comics.  Kind of more interesting than the actual comics.

[9/26/14] I thought I wrote about this somewhere before but I don't see it now [well it's sort of mentioned here].  So I'll put in in here.  The other recommended Marvel documentary would be Marvel: Building A Cinematic Universe blu-ray bonus disc that came with The Avengers Blu-Ray set that was sold exclusively at Target. It was sold out when I went to Target too late, so I bought mine on ebay.

And I guess the documentary With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story now playing on Netflix is good too.

I see Jack Kirby Storyteller on youtube [5/21/16 - link now broken, but search gets more].  And here's a shorter one called Jack Kirby: King of Comics.  I wonder if this is related to the book of the same name.  I'm guessing the speakers in the video are Mark Evanier and Jack Kirby's daughter.

[5/21/16] Besides the above, I noticed three more Marvel features on vudu last night.  While they're in the movie section, they were all one-hour television specials on ABC.Anyway, you can find them by searching for Marvel on Vudu.  Oddly, I only see one of them on Amazon.  And only two of them on wikipedia (that I can see).

The specials are

Marvel Studios: Assembling a Universe
Marvel: 75 Years, From Pulp to Pop (I see it on vimeo now, after I bought it on vudu)
Marvel's Captain America: 75 Heroic Years (youtube with Spanish subtitles, hey it's on hulu)

Friday, May 22, 2009

The School of Practical Philosophy

Seeking a deeper meaning in life, [Hugh] Jackman began to immerse himself 17 years ago in study at the School of Practical Philosophy, an international organization that provides courses and activities based on both Eastern and Western philosophical principles. He began meditating twice a day. Jackman says the school is about “taking duality and finding the underlying unity of things. Yin and yang, sacred and profane. And, yes, animal and human.” That dynamic of duality in himself, and his graceful way of unifying it, is at the core of his appeal.

Jackman was raised by his father, who is a devout, born-again Christian. His mother deserted the family when he was 8 and moved back to her native England. Hoping his son would also have a born-again experience, his father took Hugh to Billy Graham crusades every time the famed evangelist came to Australia.

“He takes his religion very seriously and would prefer I go to church,” Jackman says of his father. “We’ve had discussions about our separate beliefs. I just find the evangelical church too, well, restrictive. But the School of Practical Philosophy is nonconfrontational. We believe there are many forms of Scripture. What is true is true and will never change, whether it’s in the Bible or in Shakespeare. It’s about oneness. Its basic philosophy is that if the Buddha and Krishna and Jesus were all at a dinner table together, they wouldn’t be arguing. There is an essential truth. And we are limitless.”

-- Parade, April 26, 2008

Also in the same issue, I was surprised to learn that Serena Williams is a Jehovah's Witness (who wears sexy clothes).

Sunday, May 17, 2009

snagfilms

Entertain yourself for hours with free full-length documentaries at snagfilms.com, which has more than 600 movies to choose from. Catch Super Size Me, by temporary fast-food junkie Morgan Spurlock, or Run Granny Run, about a 94-year-old woman’s race for the U.S. Senate. Ever wonder what’s inside the President’s plane? Air Force One will give you a tour. Films are organized by title and topic, and the site allows you to “snag” them and place them on your blog or Facebook page to share with friends.

-- Parade, 4/5/09

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Diet Myths?

I was looking on Channel 8 this morning (Today Show) and there was a lady talking about Apple juice whether it was healthy. I missed it, but she mentioned that red wine is healthier than white wine which has little nutritional value (or something like that).

I went on the next and found this page diet myths (fact or fiction). Here's a couple.

Vitamin C prevents a cold: Yes.
Studies have gone back and forth for years, and just when we thought the case was closed (a comprehensive review in 2004 of 55 comparative studies — carried out over a period of 65 years — determined that daily doses of 200mg (or more) failed to reduce the incidence, duration or severity of the common cold in the normal, healthy population)... a new study surfaced!

The latest Japanese study, published 2006 in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition, showed the risk of contracting three or more colds in the five-year period was decreased by 66 percent by the daily intake of the 500-mg vitamin C supplement. This study deserves special mention because it was much longer (five years) than the trials reported in previous studies and covered many cold seasons in which subjects were probably exposed repeatedly to many cold viruses.

Chicken soup helps when you're sick: Yes.
Grandma was right after all. Sipping on hot, tasty chicken soup (prepared with a variety of vegetables) may help you feel better.

First, hot fluids in general help keep nasal passages moist, increase mucus velocity, prevent dehydration and sooth a sore throat. And the psychological comfort that soup provides may also have a placebo effect for those who are feeling ill. But most interesting is the supportive evidence that was shown in a scientific study, led by Dr. Stephan Rennard out of University of Nebraska a few years back. Researchers concluded that chicken soup with a variety of veggies, may contain substances that function as an anti-inflammatory mechanism and potentially ease the symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections, including congestion, stuffy nose, cough, and sore throat.

In other words, a healthy dose of chicken soup with veggies is good for a cold.

It turns out the lady in the article (Joy Bauer) is different from the lady on TV today. The lady today was Nancy L. Snyderman plugging her book. Ah, here's the video.

And the answer for apple (and other fruit) juice. Not good for dieting. Contains lots of sugar and not a lot of nutritional value. And same for white wine which is sugar water.

Thursday, May 07, 2009

a filet o' fish analysis

Give me back that filet o’ fish,
Give me that fish.

Give me back that filet o’ fish,
Give me that fish.

What if it were you
hanging up on this wall?

If it were you in that sandwich,
you wouldn’t be laughing at alllllll!

* * *

Why does the talking wall fish want the filet o’ fish sandwich “back”? Did the bearded dude steal it from him? Something smells fishy here…

What if it was the guy eating the sandwich hanging up on the wall? I’d agree that that wouldn’t be a very pleasant predicament to be in, but if he were on the wall, he wouldn’t be in the sandwich, thereby rendering the last line meaningless.

Plus, if the guy was in the sandwich (being eaten), he likely wouldn’t be laughing because he’d be dead and processed in a McDonald’s fish-like sandwich. I’ve never heard any sandwich laugh in my life.

Not to mention that the bearded guy isn’t even laughing at the singing fish, nor is he laughing at the sandwich he’s eating. So why does the fish even say “you wouldn’t be laughing at all”? He’s NOT laughing! If anything, he’s trying to hold back from busting a serious move due to the wall fish’s amazing synthesizer beat.

The only part of this commercial that makes any sense is the reaction of Bearded Dude #2 when he walks in the garage and witnesses what is happening. Although, if I were him, I might take that drill in his hand to the fish’s skull, thus ensuring a safe world for everyone.

Yes, these are the things I think about. I probably wouldn’t think about it so much if they didn’t play this commercial every waking hour of every day.

-- by jamie

Afghanistan's pig

KABUL (AFP) – Afghanistan's only known pig has been taken off display at Kabul Zoo and locked away to avoid panic among visitors who may be worried about swine flu, the zoo's director said Wednesday.

"We put the pig temporarily in his winter house under quarantine because of swine influenza," director Aziz Gul Saqib told AFP.

"Most people don't have much knowledge about swine influenza and seeing a pig, they panic that they will be infected.

"Just to address our visitors' concerns, we have put the pig away from public view for the past two days," he said.

The interned animal -- known simply as "Pig" -- was one of two given to Afghanistan by China in 2002, months after the ouster of the hardline Taliban regime, to help reestablish the zoo after it was destroyed during civil war.

However, the other pig -- and their offspring -- were killed in an attack by a bear.

Despite being the only pig, it was not too lonely, Saqib said.

"The pig made friends with a goat and was happy sticking to the goat in the enclosure, where some other goats and deer were on show for visitors," Saqib said.

BeatlesTube

beatlestube.net tries to organize all The Beatles videos that you can find on the web. There are plenty of Beatles music footages on Youtube™ and Google Video™ but it's difficult to have them in a logical sequence. Beatlestube.net will help you to do that.

[forward via Donna]